


Striking A Balance

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Series: Show Me Your Teeth [2]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: F/M, Porn Battle, lycanthropy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-04
Updated: 2011-08-04
Packaged: 2017-10-22 05:16:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/234249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eames as a mere mortal had been bad enough. He simply lived with innuendo and smirks, but didn't push past that. Eames as a werewolf? He was insufferable and insatiable.</p><p>For <a href="http://oxoniensis.dreamwidth.org/40106.html">Porn Battle XII</a> for the prompt quiet, projection and gloves. Also for the "loss of voice" box on my <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo/">hc_bingo</a> card.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Striking A Balance

Eames as a mere mortal had been bad enough. He simply lived with innuendo and smirks, but didn't push past that. Eames as a werewolf? He was insufferable and insatiable.

Arthur didn't seem to understand what was going on between the two of them, and had merely thought it was Eames being somewhat possessive and protective of her after the close call they had with their former employer. Eames was unfailingly polite toward Arthur, never hinting at any jealousy over his friendship with Ariadne. Once he was gone, however, Eames bedded Ariadne as many times as he could, making her scream in pleasure until her voice was hoarse and she could feel his touch for hours afterward.

Now she lost her voice, and he was quietly smirking at her. Shooting him the finger only made him laugh.

Arthur teased Ariadne about the forced quiet, which only seemed to make her fume. For safety he suggested that they all stay together, as he couldn't be sure that their former employer would have friends ( _pack mates,_ he had almost said before correcting himself) who would try to find them. It had only been two weeks since the incident, and he didn't feel it was safe enough yet to return to their usual homes.

Damn and fuck. Ariadne missed her apartment in Paris all the more fiercely now that she couldn't go there.

Glaring at Eames as if she could light him on fire with her mind, Ariadne scrawled on a pad of paper that she didn't want to stay in the same room as him. Considering it was a relatively small suite, that would be a neat trick. Eames told her so, eyes flashing so very blue and his teeth sharp inside his smile. Ariadne felt her insides turn to water at the sight, but steeled herself against it. No matter how good a lover he was, she was still angry with him. It might have been irrational, but she didn't care.

 _I need time alone!_ she'd written down. Tossing it at Eames, she retreated into a corner of the room with the PASIV. "What's to stop me?" he drawled, heat in his gaze.

Arthur sighed and touched his arm to draw his attention away from Ariadne. "Listen, I know you're going stir crazy, too. Maybe we should just lay off the quiet jokes."

"She's not the quiet type," Eames replied in a huff, sinking down into a chair. There was a low growl in his throat as he looked at Ariadne preparing the PASIV. "How long are you staying away from me, then?" It was almost a snarl, startling Arthur.

Ariadne held up a single finger, then laid down on the bed and then inserted the lines. She pressed the button and closed her eyes, falling into a dream without them.

Eames managed to last five minutes before he was antsy, jumping up and pacing the room as if his skin was crawling. "What the hell is the matter with you?" Arthur asked. "You've _never_ been this way before, even during that shit storm in Kiev."

"This is different," Eames snarled before he could catch himself. His eyes flashed and his hands were hooked into claws. "I can't..." He turned away and continued to pace, teeth grit together. The full moon was coming. He could feel it. He hadn't wanted to scare Ariadne, not really, but he couldn't be certain that he would be safe when the full moon rose. He could feel it pulling at him, the muscles beneath his skin crawling with the urge to shift and change _now,_ damn the consequences. But he wouldn't subject Arthur or Ariadne to this, not willingly, and he still hadn't figured out what he would do about it.

Arthur remained silent, taking in his agitation and the near growls deep in his throat. If things were falling into place for the point man, he wasn't saying. Eames couldn't see why Arthur _wouldn't_ figure it out; he was whip smart and could piece together information easily. His imagination was perfectly fine in chasing down projections within dreams or putting together larger pictures and poking holes in plans. He was too literal in other respects, but his temperament was suited to his job in the field.

Eames locked himself in the bathroom for a good wank. Maybe that would take the edge off for a few minutes.

When Eames didn't come out right away, Arthur knocked on the door. "Hey. I'll go into the dream and see if I can talk to Ariadne, all right? Whatever's going on between the two of you, I'm sure it'll turn out fine."

"She wanted to be alone."

"She wanted to be away from you since you haven't left her alone in the past two weeks," Arthur replied in an irritated tone of voice. "You weren't the only one hurt in that fiasco, Eames. Being overprotective of her now isn't going to help matters."

Eames' thigh throbbed at the reminder. He had kept the bandages on, not wanting to see the bite marks even though it felt as if they were healed by now. "Tell her I'm sorry, then," he told Arthur through the door.

Arthur agreed and then went to lie down beside Ariadne to enter her dream.

***

Arthur found himself in some kind of amalgamation of Paris and the countryside. There were the familiar older prewar buildings, and he could make out Ariadne's apartment building in Paris. He headed there first, having the feeling he would find her there. Sure enough, the doorway was open and she was standing on the balcony looking out over the fields. In reality, her apartment didn't have a balcony, but there also weren't rolling fields in the middle of Paris. The streets below were devoid of projections, which he thought was rather odd. It gave the entire dream an eerie feeling, since it was so quiet. He wasn't used to Paris being silent and still.

He was dressed in dark clothing, fingerless gloves on his hands. He could feel the familiar weight of a Glock beneath the black leather jacket and now felt silly. Whatever she was dreaming of, she wasn't in any danger. Still, he was reluctant to dissolve the weapon or clothing. Just in case. He would be a poor point man if he didn't actually evaluate the situation first.

Knocking on the door to the dream apartment, Arthur waited until Ariadne turned. The knocks seemed to boom across the silence, startling him. "Why did you follow me?" she asked. There was no inflection in her tone, nothing to tell him if she was annoyed or not.

"You're irritated with Eames, not me," Arthur said, deciding to take a flippant approach. "I figured I'd try to see if there was a possibility for a truce."

She turned to face the countryside again. "I just needed space and time. I'll be fine, Arthur."

He came closer and touched her arm. Her eyes were red, as if she was crying, and something in him broke at the sight. "Ariadne..."

"It's quiet here," she said, apropos of nothing. "I got rid of the dangerous ones."

Arthur could see a dark mound in the distance, just at the edge of the countryside. It looked like a heap of wolves, but he couldn't be entirely sure at this distance. "You're scared because of that last job?" He paused to let Ariadne answer, but she didn't. "He's changing, isn't he?"

Ariadne nodded and impulsively threw herself at Arthur, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm trying not to be afraid of him. He won't hurt me. Won't hurt us. I know that, but..."

He stroked her hair, his other arm around her. He leaned down to kiss her forehead just as she was looking up to talk to him. Their mouths met and neither pulled away. Instead of the fleeting kiss from the Fischer job, this one deepened and he simply held her for a long time. "We'll be all right," Arthur told her, cupping her face in his hands. "I'd never allow anything else."

"How can you make that promise?"

Hands running down her arms, Arthur took in the shiver that went through her. "Because I'd never let anyone hurt you, Ariadne."

Ariadne's mouth fell open in an O of surprise, and Arthur swept in to kiss her. His tongue touched hers, and his gloved hands tightened over her arms. Being a dream, it was easy enough to make their clothes disappear, though Ariadne put her hands over his. "Keep them on," she said, lips curling up at the corners. She brought his hands up to her lips and kissed a knuckle. "I like this look on you." She licked her lips, feeling almost nervous under his steady, intense gaze. "Touch me while you're wearing them."

"I didn't know this kind of thing turned you on."

She gave him a slightly nervous smile. "I'll bet there's a lot you don't know about me."

Arthur knelt in front of her, letting his gloved hands trail down her naked body. He smiled when she shivered, when her nipples pebbled and her breath caught. "Let's see if I can figure it out, then," he said, dimple showing. One hand circled to her hip, fingers flexing and pressing into her buttocks. His breath ghosted over her abdomen as his other hand trailed down her thigh. "I'm sure I'll learn what I need to know."

Ariadne threaded her fingers through his hair as he leaned forward and kissed her stomach. His touch was gentle, a contrast of leather and skin. It was different from Eames' ravenous, heady touch. She liked this just as much. Letting her eyes fall shut, she sighed in pleasure. "Arthur..."

"Sh... You can't talk, remember?" he murmured against her belly button. One of his hands was between her legs now, stroking her skin. "You lost your voice. Probably yelling at Eames, am I right?" he continued, breath warm against her stomach. "So you stay quiet and let me make you feel better."

If only Arthur knew, but Ariadne wouldn't tell him exactly why she lost her voice. Besides, it was nice to see the quietly protective side of Arthur. Usually he kept his stoic persona in place, keeping others at arm's length by professionalism. She was liking what she saw behind that mask, and he could be just as intense as Eames.

She gave herself over to his touch until the timer ran out.

***

Eames' eyes were hurt and judging when Ariadne woke. She couldn't speak, and that was just as well. She cupped his face in her hands and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips when Arthur was in the bathroom. "I'm sorry," Eames murmured. "But I can't lose you. I'd do anything for you."

Ariadne smiled and nodded, and sat in his lap to wind her arms around him. It was comfortable now, and his arms were a welcome weight around her. Perhaps the quiet time had helped them both calm down.


End file.
